A Freakish Occurance
by OldManDempsey
Summary: Emi and Rin have an... out of body experience.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This idea just popped into my head, and I had to get it out. Badly. I have no idea when I will add more to this; it might be a day, it might be a month. Just saying that in case anyone cares.

Anyway, here goes.

* * *

Emi looked down at her legs. She hated this dream. She hated it more than anything. It always stuck with her for the rest of the day. But she didn't cry this time.

"Screw it. I'm going to enjoy it, just this once." Her voice sounded a little heavier than usual, but whatever. It wasn't going to stop her from taking over this dream.

She stood up, making fists with her toes, feeling the carpet. She had a soft smile on her face. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be bare-foot. Some small part of her mind must have held onto it for all those years. It's funny, the things that you can get nostalgic about. She bent her knees, going up and down, then started to do lunges. She moaned softly as she felt herself stretch out, and her smile got a little wider. She even giggled a bit. She wasn't going to let this get on top of her, not today. Yeah, maybe she'd get a little sad when she woke up, but it wasn't going to dominate her. She was eighteen years old; it was about time she kicked this thing to the curb.

She stood up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She cracked her neck, and then went to grab her foot with the opposite hand, looking to hold it behind her while she stood and stretched her thighs.

She missed.

"The hell?" She tried again. She missed again.

"Oh, come on," she grumbled, "just as I was getting the hang of this." She went to brush the red hair out of her eyes. She missed.

She grumbled some more and shook her head, looking to clear her vision, but she caught sight of an annoyed looking Rin. She gave her a nod, "Hey, what's up?"

Rin pantomimed her perfectly, but didn't say anything.

Emi rolled her eyes. This dream started sad, got uplifting, and now was just plain weird. She decided to just go with the flow until she woke up. She walked over to Rin, saying, "Hey, lookie what I got!"

Rin pantomimed her perfectly, but didn't say anything.

Emi narrowed her eyes, annoyed herself, "I'd figured you'd have arms or something. This is just kind of boring and childish."

Rin didn't answer.

Emi was actually a little upset. She went to give Rin a light shove. It was just a dream, anyway. Heh, maybe now was her chance to grab Rin by the shoulders and ask her to stop being so weird. Nah, if Rin didn't act weird, she wouldn't be Rin; she'd be no fun. She still went to shove Rin, though.

She never reached Rin. Rin pointed a stump at her.

Now Emi was somewhat concerned. She went to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She missed. She looked closer at Rin. Rin was in a window. No.

Rin was in a mirror.

Rin's eyes were getting really wide. So was her mouth. Rin was stammering something at the same time Emi was. Funny, it sounded a lot like Rin.

Then Emi heard Emi yell, and it was followed by a thud. It sounded like it was coming through the wall. Emi ran to the door, and tried to open it.

She missed. She kicked the handle. It opened, but only because the handle got stuck in her pants leg, ripping it somewhat as she pulled back. She didn't stop to think about it, and ran into the hallway. She could hear a muffled moan coming from behind a door, and she stepped up to it. She briefly glanced at the room number, but figured she was seeing things. It couldn't be that number, it just couldn't.

She hammered her head into the door to knock, then wondered why she just didn't kick it.

Emi heard her own voice, albeit rather monotone, answer her, "Emi? Is that you?"

"Um, yes! Who is that?"

"Me. Talking to me. But me says Emi. I'm rhyming now, and I think I swallowed a whole bunch of helium in my sleep. Also, I've fallen and can't get up."

"Hold on!" Emi kicked at the door, but almost fell over when the handle wouldn't budge. "Dammit! Rin, the door's locked!"

"Oh. When did I do that? And when did I paint this room orange? And get really bad taste?"

"Just open the damn door!"

Rin, or, Emi, or, Rin? Rin was on the other side of the door, so _Rin_ grumbled something, and then there were sounds like something slapping at the floor. Rin asked, "Do I just turn the little thingy in the handle?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, alright, calm down." The handle was jostled as Rin slapped at it. When it stopped, Rin said, "Okay, the good news is that it's unlocked. The bad news is, I have no idea on how I'm going to open this. My feet look all weird n' stuff."

"Stand back!" Emi yelled. She kicked at the door, and missed horribly. All she managed to do was land on her back and yelp in pain.

"Emi?"

"Um... I've fallen and can't get up."

Rin sighed. "Hold on, I have an idea." Rin let out a few grunts, and then said in a strained manner, "...okay, I hope this works..."

The door slowly swung open, and Emi just stared, wide-eyed. She saw herself doing a hand-stand, pushing the door open with the stumps of her legs. Hand-stand Emi then locked eyes with Emi, and blinked a few times. They stared at each other like that for a few moments. A girl walked past them, shaking her head.

Hand-stand Emi then spoke, "Freaky."

Emi gritted her teeth, "Well, can I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess. Well, you better. Your shirt's open." Hand-stand Emi dropped to the floor and rolled inside.

Emi yelped again when she saw that her shirt was indeed open, and rolled inside herself, kicking the door shut behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

They just stared at each other.

Rin, through Emi's mouth, said, "Huh, so that's how it looks."

Emi, speaking through Rin's, asked, "What looks like what?"

"My hair." Rin cocked her head to the side, "I don't get what the big deal is. It looks fine. Actually, it looks good."

Emi raised an eyebrow, "Don't you look in the mirror?"

Rin's usual uninterested sleepy face looked strange when worn on Emi's, "No."

Emi rolled her eyes, "Then why don't you get rid of it?"

Rin moved her arms, "I can't pick it... wait." She looked seriously at Emi, "Pick me up, let me ride on your back. I need your help to do something."

Emi narrowed her eyes at Rin, "Put your legs on and do it yourself."

Rin took a long look at Emi's prosthetics while Emi finally managed to get herself in a sitting position. Emi smirked, "It's actually not that hard..."

And then, she realized something. She drew a sharp breath, "Oh, crap, practice!"

"Practice?"

"Track! What am I going to do?" She looked at Rin nervously.

Rin shrugged, "Um... call out?"

Before Rin knew it, Emi surged towards her until their faces were only a few inches apart, "You have no idea, do you? No freakin' idea on how hard I work for that squad, do you? I can't take a single day off."

Rin blinked, "Uh..."

"You're going to have to do it."

"What?"

"I'm serious, Rin. There's a big meet soon, and if I slack off for even one day, I'm screwed. I'll be damned if I let you ruin my body."

"So... this is friendship?"

Emi leaned back, and had a nasty smirk on her face, "Oh yes, looking out for each other? Damn right. And you're eating today. You're going to eat everything I put in front of you."

"Okay. But don't touch it. Make one of your own."

Emi cocked her head, confused, "What? Well, yeah, I'm not going to steal your lunch..."

"And don't eat it. You like to eat. Don't eat it. It probably wouldn't be good for you, anyway."

"Huh?"

"And don't be too nasty to Nomiya."

"Wait, Rin, what are you talking about?"

Now Rin was smirking, "If I go to track practice, you have to go to the Art Club." Emi's face went blank, and Rin continued, "I'd just call out, but the Art Club has stuff I need. Paints, canvas, brushes, whatever. Sometimes Nomiya gets mean when I don't go for a while, says stuff like, 'Well, Rin, Art Club materials are for Art Club members.' So you gotta go."

Emi looked down at her feet. "What... what the... what am I supposed to do there?!"

Rin shrugged, "Think of something yourself. He's going to want you to work on what I was working on, but...," and then Rin threw herself at Emi until their faces were only a few inches apart, "If you ruin my painting, I swear, I'll run down to the Shanghai and start eating cake. And I don't know when I'll stop."

Emi was still breathing hard when Rin backed away. She looked at her feet, "Rin? What if we don't switch back? What are we going to do?"

Rin closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She started to take deep breaths through her nose, letting them out of her mouth. Her face became peaceful, zen-like, and sagely. After a few moments, she leaned back forward, slowly opened her eyes, and locked them on Emi's, who's mouth was agape with anticipation.

"I don't know," Rin said.

Emi crawled over to her prosthetics, sighing, "Lemme show you how to put these on."


	3. Chapter 3

She was confused. The sky was nothing but blue, and everyone seemed pleased about it. It just looked boring to her. Nothing was going on, just predictability. Nothing to guess at, no random chance of rain, no sudden cloudiness. Nothing but the sun to look at, and it didn't want her to look at it; it kept hurting her eyes.

"Um, Emi?"

"Shhh."

"Are you...?"

"One second." It was shining so bright, the center of attention, but it didn't want anyone to look at it. She narrowed her eyes, watching as her lashes extended towards it like fingers. But if her eyes closed too tight, she wouldn't see anything. There was no grabbing it. Maybe it wasn't on purpose. Maybe the problem was with her. She couldn't comprehend its brightness. Maybe it was hiding something. Maybe the problem _wasn't_ her. Maybe it was just really attention grabbing and obnoxious, and just as empty as the sky around it. Maybe that was the secret.

"So, yeah, Emi..."

Rin brought her head back down quickly, and the rash movement caused her neck to crack so loud the boy in front of her flinched and started to look ill. The boy's face was purple; actually, everything was smeared purple for a few seconds. She blinked, and saw that the darkness behind her eyelids was tainted with green. For better or for worse, the sun's brightness had affected her. Mostly in an attention grabbing and obnoxious way. Like a really loud person in a crowd, but when you walked up to them, they had nothing to say.

The boy tried again, approaching Rin as if she were an animal trapped in a corner, "Are you okay?"

Rin shrugged. She was serious; she had no idea on what to think of the lonely sun, and why it was hurting her so much.

The boy straightened up, but still looked tense, "Are you going to run today?"

The green behind her eyelids suddenly looked similar to Emi's narrowed green eyes. She thought about her painting. "Yes. I will run with you. Over there. And... run." She nodded at the track. "There will be running."

The boy slowly nodded, and started to back away from her, "Oh, okay, well, let's... let's just go to the others, okay?"

He seemed to like saying okay a lot. Maybe that was their thing. "If that's okay with you."

"Yeah," he said, and started to the track. Rin watched him for a moment, then started to bounce over to the track team. Bounce, because she was walking on Emi's blades. At first, Rin had been really put off by Emi's prosthetics. She didn't really stumble about; it didn't take too long for her to get used to them, but she had still been walking much slower than usual. She hated not feeling the ground beneath her feet. She felt like she was cut off from the rest of the world, like she was just orbiting above it, unable to make any real contact. That train of thought had been dogging her the entire day; it hit too close to home for her.

But then, the blades. Oh yes, the blades. The bouncy, bouncy blades. Her arms were held straight at her sides, her eyes were only somewhat open, and she had a smile. It almost looked really, _really_ sly. She hadn't taken a single step with the blades. She had taken over a thousand bounces. One foot would be on the ground, and the other would be held up in the air with the knee bent. Then once she was airborne, she would quickly (and even somewhat mechanically) stomp one blade down and piston the opposite knee upwards to hold the other in the air. Every once in a while, she'd let out a tiny giggle. Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy...

"Ibarazaki?"

She stopped perfectly still, threw a tired glance across the entire team, and gave an uninterested sounding, "Hello."

Everyone else turned back to the person standing in front of them all, the lanky track captain. The captain couldn't tear himself away from Rin, though. Rin looked right back at him. Nobody said anything. After a few moments of this, the team looked back to Rin, then back at the captain, and continued to go back and forth between the two like they were watching an invisible game of tennis. The track captain licked his lips and gulped. What was she staring at? Well, it only made sense that she was looking at him. He was filling in for the coach that day, who had come down with a really nasty summer cold. It was something about that look that unnerved him. It wasn't particularly intimidating, but at the same time, it was. It was hard to explain. It wasn't the hard look that someone would give you when they were trying to make you submit without saying a word, as if you didn't forfeit they might slug you; like when you and a brutish person walk up to a line at the same exact second. But he still felt like curling up in a ball, not even just averting his eyes. She seemed to be looking through him, around him, and at him all at once. A weird proverb, that the eyes are the window to the soul, popped up in his head. Was that what was going on? Had he done anything to Emi over the past few days? That would be awful if it upset her that much and he couldn't even remember it, throwing it away as trivial. What the hell was he thinking?! They were all still just standing there! Say something! Anything! Nothing is happening!

He nearly fell over backwards when Rin said again, "Hello."

The track captain collected himself, or tried to, "Uh, yeah, hello Emi! How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Well, then, erm, why don't you take a knee?"

Rin nodded, and then sat down on the grass with the rest of the team, albeit in the far back. The track captain shook his head to clear it, and then launched into why he was leading practice that day, and about the upcoming meet. Rin just looked back and forth over the team, eying the backs of their heads. She caught sight of Miki, who looked like she wanted to say something, but then turned back forward, thinking better of it. They were all visibly excited, barely able to keep still. Not all of them were smiling, though. She wondered why that was. Maybe they were just nervous. She cocked her head to the side, thinking that was weird. They were all weird people. She understood doing something because you wanted to, but when that included being better than other people she was suddenly stumped. Why did Emi run, anyway? Because of her dad, she had told Rin, and that was it. Rin pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. Emi was her "Emi-est" when she ran, but Rin had watched her run by herself, and Emi was no where near as "Emi" as when she was running a meet. She had seen all these other people, but they didn't seem the same as Emi, but they were, at least a little bit. Maybe.

The track captain clapped his hands together, "And that's it! Any questions?"

"Yes."

"What is it, Emi?"

"What are we doing?"

The captain deflated a bit, "Hills, Emi. Today we're running hills. Any other questions?"

There weren't any, so everyone stretched, and jogged over to one of the hills on the grounds. There were absolutely no trees around, so the sun pressed onto their backs with no restraint. Rin didn't feel the least bit tired, though. Emi's body didn't seem to know when to quit. It could also hold it's breath for five minutes. At least, when she picked herself up off the rooftop and regained her senses, she found that five minutes had passed. She had laid back down right after. At least she was refreshed. Sky looked a bit less blue, though.

It wasn't until she saw the team heading back down the hill towards her that she started up herself. Her arms stayed locked at her sides, and she started to jog up the hill. She teetered side to side, unsure why she was unable to keep her balance, but she kept going, managing not to fall. The sun looked like it was directly in front of her. She climbed towards it, focusing on it. But when she reached the top, she had to turn back and start heading down, trying even harder to stay up. She almost flung herself down the hill, nearly unable to control her speed. Her turns were long and not tight at all, the blades falling well outside the path the team was beating into the grass. She got a few worried looks. It annoyed her, so she surged back up the hill, now in the middle of the pack.

Up to the sun, away from the sun. Up to the sun, away from the sun. Sweat was breaking out across her. Even Emi's body had its limits. She kept going. Up. Still out of reach. Down. Over, and over again.

Practice ended, and the track captain called them all together for a quick wrap up after a cool down lap. Rin kept her eyes skyward, watching the sun retreat behind the horizon. No way to catch it, now. She didn't show anything in her posture, but her face might have been slightly wistful.

The track captain sidled up to her, being they were the only two left, "Hey, is something wrong?"

Rin reflected on his words, then turned to look up at him, "Why do you run?"

"Me?" He looked taken aback, but not entirely, "I don't know. I'm kind of good at it, I guess. I also like the way I feel. Both when running and, well, health-wise. Nothing really takes the wind out of me these days." He looked at the sunset, "I kinda feel like I accomplished something every time I come out here."

"Hmm."

"What does 'hmm' mean?"

"It means 'hmm.'"

He only barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes, "Why are you asking, anyway?"

Rin shrugged, looking at the sun, "I just wanted to know." She yawned.

"Tired?"

"Not really. Your answer was kind of boring."

Now he really was taken aback. "Well... okay, if that's it then, we should start heading back."

"Okay."

The captain just shook his head and walked off. Rin watched the sun set, then walked back to her room before the chill from her sweat could really get to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Emi stood in the doorway, fidgeting. She didn't know a damn thing about art. She only hoped her ignorance wasn't splashed all across her face. It was, but no one seemed to mind, or at least, they didn't interpret it as ignorance. So she was doing pretty good, really. She still wasn't happy though. She felt like she was the invisible woman, except she had a stain on her. Like she was odd, but they only noticed the oddity of the floating stain, and that's it. Business as usual. She tried to put a word to it, but only came up with weird. Maybe a little annoying. She sure felt annoyed.

The teacher, whose name she couldn't remember for her life (she had him dubbed as "that creepy old guy"), saw her from his desk and gave her a warm greeting. Emi was flustered by the look he gave her. She half-expected him to run over and give her a huge hug. Yeah, his name was staying "Creepy," even if the plaque on his desk said "Nomiya."

"Ah, Tezuka! I was wondering where you were! I haven't seen you at all today! I was starting to get worried!"

Emi was worried that she was going to go deaf. No one else seemed to be bothered by the Nomiya's excitement. It was then she knew that her newness was way too obvious. She thought of Rin trying out her new opposable thumbs on a tray of sweets, and attempted to sober up her expression. "Um... hello." Yeah, that was Rin-ish.

She was doomed, wasn't she?

Nomiya now was walking over to her, "Tezuka, are you feeling well?"

Emi stammered, "Y-yeah, I'm fine, everything's okay. Why?" Why, why the hell was he walking over to her now? Good God, how much cologne do you need to wear to school? It covered up the usual smell of the art-room, which was almost as impressive as hoisting the whole world onto your shoulders.

"Well," Nomiya scratched the back of his head, "You've been standing in the door for a few minutes, now."

Oh, yeah, you walk through doors. Silly Emi. She looked at Nomiya, noticing that his clothing was as loud as his excited voice. She had never looked at him from this close. You never really pay attention to an accident on the freeway until you slow down to look at it.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, with Emi dedicating everything she had to figuring out what to say. She settled on, "Um, I was just trying to figure out where my... uh, painting was."

Nomiya clapped his hands together and laughed, "Why Tezuka, it's right where it always is!" He didn't point anywhere until he noticed how confused Emi was. "Or did you mean... where it is progress-wise? Or artistically?"

Emi was almost quivering now, "All... all those things. Yeah, all that."

Nomiya laughed it off again, and Emi wondered if her distress was really that amusing. "Ah, I know how you feel!" Nope, he didn't. He probably wouldn't want to, either. He pivoted around and paraded back to his desk, "Well, I'll let you do what you do! Don't let this old fart get in your way!" He chuckled to himself again. Boy, he sure was funny, or at least his intended audience thought so.

Emi slithered past the other club members, giving them slight nods of nervous acknowledgment. She finally found her spot, and sat in front of "it." "It" defied definition. Kinda like Rin. She had looked at Rin's paintings before, but for the first time she really gave it a good once over. She had thought it was weird that Rin had been so defensive of her painting earlier that morning, but now she was so tired that she stared into it, astonished by its complexity. She always thought that Rin was just a good artist, and a little weird. She never had the time to just sit there and study one of Rin's works, though, even as she was painting them. Emi always found herself getting a little fidgety; she was never one for staying in one place too long. The school day had really drained her, though. Rin wasn't in good shape at all, at least compared to Emi. She kept feeling like she was missing ninety percent of everything that was going on around her, that the people she had walked past in the hallways were just a constant stream of gray, the colors of their clothes all bleeding together, contrasting with the cream colored walls of the school. It was all unreal, all abstract, completely surrounding the sleepy Emi, like she was strolling through one of Rin's paintings. The entire day, she had been looking for something or someone to anchor herself to, to stop this endless floaty feeling. Rin didn't talk to many people, though. Emi would get nods, like the ones she had been politely handing out like finger food to the other art club members.

She re-focused. There was no way she could touch that painting. She couldn't do it any good. She would end up damaging it. That made her feel a little ashamed, especially when she asked one of the other art club members to move it for her.

The blank canvas made her feel a little bit better, until she realized that she was going to have to put something on it. It felt like Rin's painting was staring at her, almost accusingly.

Emi stretched her legs out, letting herself get distracted by how flexible Rin was. She then fumbled for a brush, and randomly stabbed it into the first color she managed to squeeze out, which happened to be green. She was able to do everything easily enough from memories of watching Rin. She assumed Rin's usual position, and touched the brush to the canvas.

She knocked it over. How in the hell was a girl that wore a boy's uniform to school more delicate than her?

Nobody really seemed to notice, and that froze her, shock on her face. Luckily, Nomiya came over to her and picked it up. Well, about as lucky as snake eyes to someone with their house deed on the table. His voice oozed into her ear, "My, my, my, feeling rather passionate today, aren't we?"

Emi couldn't think of anything to say. Nomiya nodded, "Well, keep trying. Don't let anything get in your way, even gravity. If you want it on the floor again, go ahead. Just... try not to make a mess, alright?"

"Y-yeah..."

Nomiya flitted away, flowing around the other students and making comments. Emi tried again, concentrating on being gentle. She couldn't just rush through this. She started to feel dizzy, but at the same time, welcomed it. She could feel some small part of her brain slowly start to turn on. Sure, it was sparking, and maybe running a little loud and hot, but something was stirring to life.

She bit her lip, and touched the brush to the canvas. She didn't release her lip as she started to make progress. She squinted her eyes, trying to see something far off in the horizon. She couldn't make it out just yet, but she was slowly getting closer. And closer. And closer.

Nomiya's little patrol carried him back over. "So... um, what is it? I mean, I know that's cheating, but that's... that's... just... well..."

Emi put the brush down, and they both looked at it. Emi tried to explain, "Well... you see... it's... it's a... it's a doggie."

(emi's picture is hosted on photobucket, with id Doggie_ . Lemme know if you can't see it. Trying to figure out how to show this is why it's taken me so damn long to post this part. Damn story's finished . Friggin' rules, man...)

Nomiya's head was slowly cocking to the side at a constant speed. Emi almost expected it to rotate a full three-hundred and sixty degrees. She got worried. It had started out as... she didn't remember. It turned into that. She decided that she should try to elaborate, hoping that it would do more than just excavate, "Well, you see, it's like, a... young, little dog... puppy! Yeah, a puppy! And," she was absolutely terrible at this, "...and it's, like," burying her in a shallow grave while she was still breathing, "Just, doing, puppy like things. Like a puppy." She tried smiling. It felt like smiling at the hangman.

Nomiya was deep in thought. "So, childish." Emi gulped. Nomiya kept going, "So... innocent. Am I right?"

Ibarazaki wasn't in at the moment, but you could leave a message.

He did just that, "Hmm, this is very interesting. Well, I'll interrogate you no further! I was really hoping you would finish your other piece, but I am very interested in seeing where you go with this. Keep at it!" He floated off. Emi hoped that he wouldn't be back for a while, partly because she was running out of words to describe his bizarre stride.

There was nothing else to distract her, so she kept painting. She tried to keep calm, but her agitation was slowly gaining momentum. Every once in a while, she would hear whispers, "Damn, Tezuka's doing it again." "I know. She just always charges in headfirst. I always feel so amateurish." "It's all she can do. She was born for this."

Born to what? Flounder helplessly in the water? Did her splashes look pretty or something?

She drew a breath between gritted teeth. "Calm it," she growled softly to herself. She mashed up her face into Rin's usual cool look. The whispering didn't stop, but the face never fell. Was it always like this? Or did Rin just not hear them? Well, wait, was it really that bad? They _were_ complementing her, so she must be doing something right. She pulled the brush away from the canvas, and thought hard. Emi wasn't doing anything special. She was trying her hardest to get through the class without problems. She didn't want to screw things up for Rin. Yeah, Rin threatened her, but she probably wouldn't go through with it. That wasn't like her. So she was trying her hardest.

She was trying her hardest to fit in.

Emi lost track of everything around her. It suddenly felt like time had ceased to exist.

What did she mean by that? She was trying to fit in. That's all. By being like them. But she wasn't. She wasn't like them. She looked at Rin's painting. Rin had told her something once, something weird. But in this place where time stood still, it didn't seem so strange, "Painting's like talking, but I don't mess up my paintings. Not often. I mess up talking. I always come up with new words, because I forget the real ones. That's bad, though. You don't have to do that with painting."

She asked Rin why she didn't have a boyfriend once. Rin just gave her a shrug. Emi had jokingly accused her of having her expectations too high. Rin just shrugged again, and walked away from the lunch Emi made for her, saying that she was just going for a walk. Emi just chalked it up to Rin being Rin. She should have realized Rin was being human.

She shook her head, and while she heard the seconds start to tick again, she couldn't quite clear it. She turned back to the canvas, and started to paint, albeit a little distracted.

The rest of the time went by just like that. Everyone was done before Emi. As they left, she put some finishing touches on and let out a tired sigh. Nomiya sidled up to her and looked at the painting. As he studied it, Emi got up, stretched, and made for the door. Nomiya called after her, "Tezuka, I hate to bother you, but does this one have a name?"

"Yeah," Emi said over her shoulder as she left, "It's 'Basket Full of Puppies That Won't Shut the Hell Up.'"

(another picture! Same thing, but BasketofPuppiesthatwontshutthehellup_ )


	5. Chapter 5

Emi was completely drained. She kicked open the door and stumbled into her room. Rin was lying on the floor with the lights out, looking up at the ceiling as if all the answers were written there. Emi flopped down beside her, feeling like she had been fired out of a cannon into her own glass house.

"How was the art club?" Rin asked, keeping her stare upwards.

"Aggravating. How was track practice?"

"Mystifying."

"I bet." Emi looked up at the ceiling with Rin. "What'cha doin' now?"

"Watching my thoughts float away."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go 'head."

They lay there in silence for a while.

"What do yours look like?" Rin asked.

"My thoughts?"

Emi felt Rin's nod more than she saw it. She shifted around on her back, trying to get comfortable, "Kinda ugly, actually. I sorta wanna to see them go."

"Why?"

"I don't like them very much."

"Why?"

Any other day, Emi might have started to get annoyed or weirded out. Instead, not only was she speaking Rin-ese (albeit with a thick accent), she answered with a shrug.

"You don't know?"

Another shrug, "They were weighing me down."

"But if they weigh so much, they won't float away."

"That's what I'm afraid of. How 'bout you?"

Rin thought on this for a while. Emi tried to help, "Do they look like clouds?"

"Not really. I wish they did. If they did though, they'd be all stormy. Though that's not so bad, I guess. I like the rain. But it can't rain inside. Not unless we light matches and stand in the hallway under those little silver things."

"You know, they're still trying to figure out who did that. And I'm still trying to figure out how you did that."

"A good magician never reveals his secrets."

"Her."

"What?"

"Her secrets. You're a girl."

"I guess. If we want to be proper. But then I'd have to saw you in half."

"Already happened once. What's the worst that can happen?"

That actually got a chuckle out of Rin. Emi steered the topic back, "So, what do they look like?"

"Bright. They hurt to look at." Rin rubbed her eyes roughly. "So I do that. But then everything looks weird." Rin did it again. "It looks strange, I've been trying to figure that out, too."

"You haven't been doing that all day, have you?"

"It's been taking a lot of thought."

"So, in short, I'm gonna need glasses after this."

"You have straws too, right?"

"Nope, I have to get some."

"Some host."

"Hostess."

They quieted down again.

"Emi?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you run?"

Emi squirmed some more, then lay still. "Because... because I have to."

"For...," and then Rin shut her mouth tight, not letting the words escape. She started squirming herself. Emi asked, "What's up?"

"I... I don't know."

"Go 'head, ask."

"That would be... shallow. Mean. Not nice."

"No, really. Go 'head."

Rin swallowed. It was off-putting to see Rin so nervous. Usually she would just say it, but it was really eating at her. She knew that it was a lot more complicated than it seemed, and for some reason, it unnerved her. Words wouldn't be able to really answer, and she wasn't good with those to begin with. Still, she managed, "It's for your dad, right?"

"Yeah."

"But why?"

Emi pursed her lips and thought. "Dunno. I guess I don't wanna let him down."

"Would he be mad?"

Emi shook her head with a smile. "I just... I just need to." The feelings were there, but the words weren't. "After everything, I just... just can't stop. It would be a waste. Every step, I feel like I get a bit closer to him." She blushed. "Wow, suddenly I'm all romantic."

"And you feel good and things are a little bit easier and stuff, right?"

"Uh-huh. The perks of emotional trauma."

Rin sounded sad, "And you get somewhere."

Emi nodded. "Hey, Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"Your new painting was awesome. I don't really know what it is, but I couldn't stop looking at it."

"Because it's weird?"

"No. I never realized how hard you work on those things. I mean, yeah, I've watched you and helped once or twice, but I really didn't notice until I was up close. It's amazing."

"But it's weird."

Emi giggled, "A bit. But I really do like it. Even if I don't get it." She paused. "And... I appreciate it. It's not bad. Not a bad thing, I mean. Maybe someday, I'll get it. I'll have to keep trying. I want to get it. I really do. I mean it."

"That's nice." Rin paused, and thought on her words. "And, uh... Thanks, Emi."

"No problem."

Another silence.

"Emi?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we friends?"

Emi clammed up. She swallowed hard and thought. "Well, we see each other every day. And we eat lunch together. And I help you in the morning. And we hang out."

"So, this is friendship?" Rin closed her eyes with a sad sigh.

Emi followed suit, "No, it's not."

"We're just kinda here, aren't we." Rin's voice got lower as she said every word, with the last being almost a whisper.

"Yeah." Emi felt like she was sinking into the floor. "I'm sorry, Rin. For everything."

"That's okay. I'm sorry, too. I don't know if I tried, and if I did, I wouldn't know what to do."

Emi choked a little, "It's alright." She sniffed. "I guess I'll just see you in class, then. Unless you ever need some help."

Rin let out a breath, "Yeah."

Emi kept her eyes closed and didn't move. She heard Rin struggle to get up, and shuffle towards what she figured was the door.

Then, she was poked in the side. Hard. "Ow! Watch it with those things!"

"I'm sorry." Rin looked gloomy and pulled her hand back. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't asleep."

"Well, I'm not. What's up?"

Rin bit her lip. "Do you... do you wanna be friends?"

Emi was shocked for a few moments, but then it was all broken up by a wide smile, "Yeah, sure. I'd love to be your friend."

Rin had a small smile of her own, "That's nice." Rin then suddenly looked blank as usual, "So can I sleep here? I can't find your legs."

Emi started laughing, not even caring, "Y-yeah, sure. It'll be a sleep-over. Just like friends."

Rin got serious, "You're not going to hit me with a pillow or something now, are you?"

Emi got mischievous, "Maybe. If we end up doing this properly."


	6. Chapter 6

The sun hit Emi in the face. She yawned, stretched, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her back was a little achy after spending a night on the floor. At least one of them had the sense to drag a blanket down at some point. She threw it off, and saw that her legs had somehow gotten kicked under the bed...

She just rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. With her hands.

She gasped, and jumped to her... stumps. She shrieked in pain.

Rin rolled over, "Five more minutes."

"Rin! Rin get up!"

"Five more. Pretty please?"

"No! No, look!"

"Alright, alright." She sat up and looked at herself, now back to normal. "Huh. Look at that."

Emi hugged her. Rin twitched, but managed not to kick. "Um, good morning," she mumbled into Emi's shoulder. "So, what do you want to do now that I'm up?"

Emi pulled back, and thought hard. Then, she smiled, "You needed help with something, right?"

"Help?" Rin was the puzzled one for once, but then, "Oh yeah..."

Emi couldn't carry the mirror by herself, but she was quick enough (and apparently cute enough) to recruit some of the boys before they wandered into their free-time. She could, however, help Rin hang the doggie painting in it's stead.


End file.
